MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

González Urrutia thanks US for Blinken's acknowledgment

María Corina Machado went into hiding in fear for her life

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia Friday thanked the US Government of President Joseph Biden for recognizing him as president-elect despite the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Caracas granting victory to the incumbent Nicolás Maduro.

“We thank the United States for recognizing the will of the Venezuelan people reflected in our electoral victory and for supporting the process of restoration of democratic norms in Venezuela,” wrote González Urrutia on X after Secretary of State Antony Blinken's statement whereby he reckoned that Washington concluded, based on “overwhelming evidence” that González Urrutia was the winner.

“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States, and especially to the Venezuelan people, that Edmundo González Urrutia won the majority of votes in Venezuela's presidential elections on July 28,” Blinken said.

Meanwhile, disenfranchised opposition leader María Corina Machado who supported González Urrutia's candidacy given the ban on her, announced that she had gone into hiding in fear for her life after the premises of her Vente Venezuela party in Caracas were raided by hooded assailants. Machado expressed her stance through an article in the Wall Street Journal.

“I write this from hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my compatriots under the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro,” Machado wrote under the headline “I can prove that Maduro was defeated.”

“Mr. Maduro did not win Sunday's Venezuelan presidential election. He lost by a wide majority to Edmundo Gonzalez, with 67% of the vote to 30%. I know this to be true because I can prove it. I have receipts obtained directly from more than 80% of the voting centers in the country,” she stressed as Maduro's regime is stepping up its repressive campaign with over 1,000 arrests, around a dozen killings, and maximum security prisons being refurbished to house those Maduro has branded as “terrorists” and “delinquents.”

Maduro's alleged win has been challenged by numerous countries demanding the minutes of each polling table be produced.

“We have known for years what tricks the regime uses and we know perfectly well that the National Electoral Council is under its absolute control. It was unthinkable that Maduro would admit defeat,” Machado also wrote.

Also Friday, the CNE released a new bulletin corroborating Maduro's win with 51.95% of the vote against González Urrutia's 43.18% with 96.87% of the tallies counted. Congressman Luis Eduardo Martínez came in third with 1.24 % of the vote.